Become a MetaHuman

    Epic’s MetaHuman Avatar tool now has the abilty to import scans of real people, this is open for developers currently, but watch this space as I will predict it will not be long before you are able to create your own metahuman that looks like your twin.     To caveat this was […]

Advancement in Digital Humans

Lastly, this week I found this company Pantheonlab.ai that are creating digital humans. If you have read my other articles here: Digital Humans taking over Digtial Humans taking over Cont.. You will see I am a little obsesses with digital humans and the value they can add with production and services like help desks.  Pantheon […]

Adidas ozWorld

From creating more realistic avatars to now more abstract ones, this time kitted out in futuristic Adidas outfits. I tried it a couple of times and wasn’t loving my avatar, but it might be I am highly strung. When you enter the builder you will have to answer question for the system to create your […]

Making avatars for the real world.

Enter Clinique, who have partnered with Daz 3D a 3D modelling software to make the Metaverse more inclusive, by creating a massive collection of 8,888 female and non-binary profile picture avatars to use in your social platforms. Working with three influencers from different backgrounds to give advice on looks and tones to use with your […]

NFT’s for Good

When you say NFT most people would think it’s all about making a profit and commerce, this isn’t always true as this next example shows. Here NFT’s are being used to help, in this case saving the rainforest, I wanted to highlight this not just because it’s a really interesting case, but also because I’m […]

Live Portraits

We have all seen deepfakes and how real they can seem, a group have taken it a step further and the resolution and small details like month and eye movement are really impressive. A snippet from the website “We propose a system for the one-shot creation of high-resolution human avatars, called megapixel portraits or MegaPortraits […]

The Rejection of NFT’s

  On Wednesday the 20th July the of the best-selling video game of all time Minecraft[1] has decided to not allow or non-fungible tokens (NFT’s) [2] on their very popular gaming platform. NFT’s are the ownership of a unique digital items, normally images, videos and music, this is like a receipt in the physical world, […]

Meet the Technologist

Global chief creative technologist at VMLY&R COMMERCE on tinkering around making games on his lunch breaks, learning the “dark arts of traditional creative” and why digital humans could be the norm sooner than you think An interview I did for Little Black Book        

Meta Humans taking over Cont.

A few months ago I wrote this article on Meta humans https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/digital-humans-taking-over-darren-richardson/ Where i went into some details on how easy it is to create meta humans via unreal engine and how this technology is already being used for good with the Albert Einstein example. In such a little amount of time I’m seeing more […]

Commerce Projection Mapping

Projection mapping has been with us for a decade or more now with light shows on buildings and lighting the sky up with brands logos and objects that leave the viewer mouth wide open. The art was the main focus, yes it was beautiful, exciting and captivating…     But… How do we make something […]

Heard of Digital Selves!?

Shamefully, ‘Selves’ isn’t a term I was familiar with, until wrote an article on MetaHumans, and was introduced to a fellow at the MIT initiative on the Digital Economy, called Michael Schrage. Michael has been doing collaborative research on ‘Selves’, and all the possibilities and opportunities they could bring us in the future. Firstly, what are […]

Are Digital Humans taking over

This feels like a headline or title to a science fiction movie, one that would bring panic to the human race, taking your imagination to iconic films Matrix or iRobot where AI or robots run the world. The intent of the headline was to make this short article thought provoking and start a debate, not […]

Augmented Reality Glasses by SnapChat

Snapchat have released their long rumoured Augmented Reality glassed that enable consumers to enter a 3D augmented world See the full video below. Buy them here

Chat with Einstein the digital human

Lately I have taken a massive interest into Digital Humans and all they can offer using AI, machine learning and buckets of data. This example is spot on using a figure that the world know so well and bringing him back to life for classrooms to ask him questions on all of his amazing work […]

Insane Motion with Driving Sim

Mean Gene Hacks has created a motion device that connected with his driving sim gives him real time motion feedback, he does this with a devise that manipulates your nerves making you move is if you were in a real car turning a corner, or in the case of the example in the video, falling […]

Google Earth shows the Human impact

With the biggest update on Google Earth since 2017 is the introduction of Timelapse “With Timelapse in Google Earth, 24 million satellite photos from the past 37 years have been compiled into an interactive 4D experience. Now anyone can watch time unfold and witness nearly four decades of planetary change. ” Just to see how […]

Thermal Camera going mainstream

When I saw this thermal camera add on to your mobile my first question was: why, why is this even a thing unless you’re in law enforcement. Well it turns out thermal imaging is actually a big thing and being used already in a number of different places, of course law enforcement, but also: 1. […]

Bringing the digital and real life closer

A new smart device from mojipic allows you to display your favorite emojis on your car – hands free of course, all voice activated. mojipic

Bringing Sensors and Holograms together.

I saw this on Linkedin, it’s not a new concept, but its becoming more popular and look at all the usecases for virtual talks / conferences. I talked about textile waste in my last post, this could save $$$ on travel and population. Back to this tech, I hope it does become more mainstream, not […]

AI Predicted Fashion

Finesse, a start up is using AI to take the guess work out of all the fashion waste. It’s estimated that companies burn 13 Million Tons of Textiles per year because they don’t have the data to know how much of a certain product to make. Finesse want to change that by gathering data on […]

Amazon Alexa auto pilot.

Amazon launched a new service in the US a few days ago where your Alexa devices learns from your habits and routines and starts acting for you. The best example to explain this would be; you have gone to bed and you forgot to turn off some lights, Alexa will then either ask you if […]

Public API’s

I have used sites like this in the past and they are great repository for useful and not so useful API’s 100’s of API’s from get you insta feed to Uber ride requests and pricing. See them all here at Public API’s

Entertainment Commerce

I did a panel talk this month chaired by Pat Murphy of MCA and I was asked about eCommerce and how I felt it will evolve and the production behind development. I used a few examples then this example popped into my head from Kanye West. Where Kanye wanted to bring Art and Entertainment together […]

Indy Autonomous Car Race

Yes, its real! A race happening this year. Who? A competition among accredited, tax-exempt colleges and universities (including foreign institutions of higher education that are organized and operated in a manner consistent with requirements for exemption from federal income tax under the laws of the United States) to create software that enables automated-capable racecars to […]

Five AI developments will shape 2021 and beyond

1. AI and vaccine development It typically takes years, if not decades, to develop a new vaccine. But by March 2020, vaccine candidates to fight covid-19 were already undergoing human tests, just three months after the first reported cases. 2. Fully automated driving and the rollout of robotaxis Autonomous driving technology continued to mature in […]

Coin sized smart home amazon competitor

Josh.ai have developed a few products to compete with the amazon suite, one of these products that caught my eye was the Josh Nano, the reason being that over the past few years smart home devices are always quite large in size, I know they are always trying to make them look futurist and or […]

AI Powered Parking

A trail project led by Fetch.ai and a blockchain company called Datarella has launched in Munich to A.I a parking facility of a company called Connex. The purpose behind the technology is to control pricing on the buildings parking spaces and rewarding employees whom don’t use the parking with public transport passes. “It could say […]

Google FREE AI assisted monster maker

This is one of those tools you will spend hours on without getting the result you really wanted. Google has launched a fun tool that takes your strange sketches and turns them into a kind of 3D monster. Its fun and I am sure lots of AI and tech behind the scenes, but not something […]

The Future of clothes shopping?!

Zozo have made a second version I assume of their try it on suit, I base this on the fact its called ZozoSuit2. The suit takes all your measurements along with your mobile device to make sure you don’t have any ill fitting clothes in the future when ordering online. In a covid world this […]

Print the Drink

New Tech enabling you to 3D print inside drinks / Cocktails.

Font to Emoji

Cool little font to emoji generator submitted via the contact form Try it here

Create 3D worlds via speech

Create 3D worlds using half a million different 3D objects. you can create with and without code and also by recognition speech. Once your world is created you can view on a number of platforms including VR headsets. The concept seems great, the telling will be in how the interaction with the worlds works and […]

Makeup you can only wear online via L’oreal

As we live a massive amount of our lives online currently the makeup brand L’Oreal have launched the first ever virtual make up that can only be worn online using AR. Back in 2018 L’Oreal purchased an augmented reality filter company called Modiface which you can now use with the likes of snapchat and insta […]

Tag the world

This company has developed an API that will allow you to create virtual sticky notes for others to find in the real world. Basically we can Annotate the world. There are loads of use cases for this, from the pure functional and business related cases to the fun and gaming cases. cleantoaster from Neil Mathew […]

VR Meetings – The Future?

With the majority of the world in lockdown and a most people meeting on zoom / teams / skype / Google to hold meetings its taught us a couple of things. 1. we can actually run business and meetings over video 2. it gets a bit lonely. I saw this post by Vox where recode […]

Camera for the visually impaired

Oren Geva a very talented inventor who won the Asia design prize last year created a camera for the visually impaired. Quote from the website “2C3D is a camera that enables the blinds to see. The camera, is a development and design of a tactile camera concept for the vision impaired. The camera creates 3D […]

Fresh Food? check the Label

Are you the sort of person that throws food out once it reaches the expiry date on the product or are you the sort that takes an educated gamble and goes for it? Both are risky; firstly you could be throwing out good food.. meaning wasting food.. meaning BAD. Or you could be eating something […]

VR & AR enhancing the way we learn

I feel this has way more usecases than just learning which is where zspace seem to be focusing. Imagine in store and brand experiences, the deconstruction of products and even virtual building and play (Lego). This is all using current hardware with the zspace addition to bring a VR / AR experience via laptops and […]

Wearable Electronic Tattoos

Wearable electronic tattoos that can sense electrophysiological signals like heart rate and brain activity or monitor hydration and glucose levels from sweat are under development. They can even be used for controlling mobile devices, for example shuffling a music playlist at the touch of a tattoo, or for luminescent body art that lights up the […]

Samsung to produce and transparent phone

Samsung are reported to be creating a fully transparent phone. The patent was filed in January this year, the details of the technology are available and it can also be used for TVs, monitors, laptops, and so on. “This display, in specific, is equipped with a transparent luminous display panel, through which light can shine. […]

Remote Robot Shelve Stackers

A Japanese supermarket chain is testing remote working, but in a new way via remote controlled robots. Family Mart is working with Telexistence a Japanese robotics firm, The Model-T is remote controlled by a human equipped with a VR set using their “Augmented Workforce Platform.” The Robot’s main function with the aid of an operator […]

‘Impossible Tattoo’ Inked Remotely by Robot Arm over 5G Network

T-Mobile has demonstrated the potential of its #5G network with an #advertising campaign involving the world’s first remote #tattoo. The tattoo artist worked on tattooing a false arm in one location, while tattoo client sat in a different building where the robot arm – controlled by, and precisely replicating, artist’s actions – drove the needle […]

Virtual and physical world come together.

Water and electronics don’t normally mix well, but here they have combined the thrill of the water slide with the thrill of VR. I can honestly say this passed me by, its been around nearly two years, but i am posting because I am seeing VR getting stronger and stronger with more consumers engaging with […]

Disappearing Print

West Australian Ballet: Dracula from Wunderman Thompson Australia on Vimeo. A technology that is actually quite simple can be used creatively and take concepts to another level. Using a lenticular Image they were able to make dracular appear and disappear using a mirror which shows the different angles of the image. Simple and smart when […]

Physical and Digital Gaming – Mario Home Circuit 

To Celebrate 35th Anniversary of Super Mario they have brought the physical and digital world together to create Mario Home Circuit  A RC Mario Kart car with a camera that you can drive around your house, it builds a virtual circuit and then lets you race virtual opponents on your #Nintendo Switch. Watch the intro […]

Bring your pictures to life with Doodlar

Doodlar is a fun app where you can draw animals and they come to life through the power of AR You can draw on the actually screen or hoover the camera over the picture to then bring the picture to life. It’s FREE on iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

New York Mapped in the 1940’s

This site lets you explore the streets of New York via photos captured in the 1940’s Its one of those sites where you can get lost for hours exploring how different the world was back then. The makers have also started making a version for 1980’s  Link to 1940’s New York Link to 1980’s New […]

Article to Podcast Chrome extension

  This Chrome extension converts all of those blog posts you didn’t get around to reading into podcasts for you to listen to at a later stage. Something so simple but very useful. Download link

Really feel the sound

 Woojer uses haptic feedback to make you feel sound in a totally new way. I was lucky enough to try some hardware similar to this at CES 2020 and the sound intensifies massively, the biggest difference in the base you feel it hitting your body which intensifies the music even more. This could be used […]